Purpose

The purpose of this Library guide is to bring together University resources and services to facilitate researchers in the production of high quality data with potential for long-term use.

Research data often have a longer life span than the research project that creates them. Researchers may continue to work with some or all of their data even after project funding has ceased. Follow-up projects may re-analyse existing data or add new data to an existing dataset. Data may, in addition, be re-used or re-purposed by other researchers.

An increasing number of funding bodies request or require that their funding recipients create and follow plans for managing data, storing or preserving it in the long term, and sharing some, or all data products with the public. Funding agencies may require varying degrees of planning and explanation at the bidding stage and will respond more positively to applications that include plans for managing, preserving and sharing their data.

This guide will assist you in meeting funders’ requirements. It will also be of relevance in terms of increasing your own research efficiency.

The guide is a work-in-progress. Areas to be added in the near future include:

Relevant books

Accessing datasets

Acknowledgements

I would like to gratefully acknowledge the following for their contributions to this guide: